Year: 2019

Inflammation appears to be the root cause of all lifestyle disease including heart disease. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to protect itself against an illness or infection. When you have an infection or injury, your body sends its soldiers (WBC’s) to get rid of harmful intruders and repairs damaged cells. However, long term exposure...

If struggling to sleep is a routine; your body’s natural repair mechanism needs attention. Like many others, if you chose to live in denial, you’re putting your health at a great risk! You might be surprised to learn that sleep is the latest factor to be associated with coronary heart disease. Sleep is essential for...

Headaches seem such a common ailment that many of us do not even find the need to take them seriously. Stress, tension, arguments, work or exams pressure-anything and everything seems reason enough to trigger a headache. In many individuals, food allergies, low sugar levels, intake of very cold liquids, sudden cessation from caffeine or nicotine...

Living with diabetes doesn’t mean eating less or depriving yourself, it simply means eating healthy and with caution. Diabetes is on the rise every year and there is no cure for it, but we can manage it well. The first step towards management of diabetes is to consume more of low glycemic index (GI) foods....

Garlic has been hailed down the ages as a herb. It has been used as a medicine, as a beauty aid and even as a talisman against evil. This little bulb contains calcium, phosphorous, iron, Vitamin C and a small amount of vitamin B complex. Its strong odour is considered serious social handicap. Nevertheless, it...

Calcium is a fussy mineral and does not get absorbed easily. It needs the ‘right environment’ to get absorbed. Only about 20 to 30% of the ingested calcium is absorbed. In women after menopause the absorption even falls down to as low as 7% of the total ingested calcium. Most of the unabsorbed calcium gets...

Whoever would have thought that a humble cup of green tea can provide protection to the body against heart disease, cancer & many other ailments?   Green tea protects the heart: Surprising, as it may seem, drinking tea (especially green tea) protects your arteries by reducing blood- clotting factors. The ‘catechins’ in tea help by...

Coffee – a drink obtained by infusion of the ground beans of coffee plant is one of the most freely marketed addictive substances in the world and a daily beverage for many of us. Because of its ever increasing popularity, there’s probably more research done on coffee than on any other subject and yet there...

Insulin resistance in the brain leading to Alzheimer’s disease is now termed as type 3 diabetes within the alternative healthcare groups, but the term is not widely accepted by the medical community. Some experts refer to this type of diabetes as brain diabetes. It is basically a progression from type 2 diabetes to Alzheimer’s disease...

If you are genetically prone to early balding or graying of hair, you can blame it to your ancestors but largely – hair health depends upon your blood circulation and nutrition. Hair colour is the result of pigmentation attributed to the presence of  chemicals known as eumelanin and pheomelanin (broadly referred to as melanin). The...

Eggs are consumed by a lot of people as a breakfast option and are considered to be one of the most nutritious foods. There are different types of eggs available in the market. The regular white eggs, such as the pastured eggs (where the hens are allowed to roam freely eating their natural food), and...

All of us fall sick on certain occasions. However, the severity and duration of the illness are different for different individuals. Our bodies are constantly attacked by toxins present in our environment. Everyday our immune system has to deal with polluted air, processed food, and contaminated water. It provides soldiers to your body to be able...

If you’ve ever had a kidney stone, it’s unlikely that you will ever forget the experience. Kidney stones can be extremely painful and happen to be one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract. The role of the kidney is to filter the blood by removing excess mineral salts and other soluble (dissolvable)...

I would like everyone to know about the value of fibre. “Fibre” is that part of the food which is not digested. It passes through the large intestine unchanged. It provides no nutrients or any material for growth and repair and yet has untold health benefits. High-fibre Indian diet has virtually no calories. It entangles...

For most of us, the impulse to reach out for something to eat when we are upset is as natural as breathing. All of us experience uncalled for stress that upsets our eating patterns and washes away our efforts to lose weight. An angry phone call, any festival or an argument can trigger the well-under-control...

When Hippocrates wrote ‘Let food be thy medicine’, he certainly wasn’t referring to fast foods.  With the burgeoning of fast-food joints in the metros, our health is in jeopardy.  Food has become a lovable enemy, which is what makes controlling it even more difficult. The Main Problem with Fast Food To put it simply, it...

Usually, a change in weather precipitates a cold. Although the cold weather does not cause a cold, the cold virus thrives better in a cold and dry climate.  There are about 200 different viruses that can cause the common cold.  These viruses are floating around us – all the time!  Each one of us is...

Moonsoon is a relief from the scorching summer sun. But with all the fun, comes a palate full of diseases that only come around only during the monsoon. We have your basic monsoon queries cleared in this week’s column. Q1. Is there a list of nutrition-related do’s and don’ts that we must follow during the...

We need to be very careful about the food we eat and the water we drink during monsoon as our digestion gets weakened and the dosha, which is most likely to go out of balance is Vaata. Vaata aggravation leads to gas formation and indigestion, which most of us unknowingly experience during monsoons. So, the...

Occasionally experiencing a few aches and pains is fairly normal for most of us. But have you ever wondered how life would be if your body continues to be tired and aching for months together? Although it may seem unbelievable, at least 3% of the general population suffer from a painful condition known as “fibromyalgia”...

Some crave for ice creams, others crave for pizza, yet others crave for salty snacks. These are physical food cravings. They may be very real and physically disturb a person. On the other hand, some people experience the food cravings only when they are emotionally disturbed as when they are anxious, depressed, stressed, sad or...

There is simply no other condition that inspires women to care for themselves as well as they want to during pregnancy.  Most of their lives they look after their children husband and other members of the family but it’s only during pregnancy that they begin looking after themselves. Here I want to emphasise that eating...

Your gut is full of helpful bacteria, (more than 40 trillion) that helps in keeping our health in balance and defending our body from disease. But sometimes, these good intestinal bacteria go out of balance due to the wrong food choices we make and can result in indigestion, constipation, acidity, bloating and diarrhoea. Probiotics are...

Angina is a serious condition that requires careful monitoring. In mild to moderate cases, prescription drugs may be necessary. Along with this nutritional therapy is recommended as it helps to improve the condition. Angina Pectoris or angina is caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen to the heart muscle which produces a pressure like pain...

Beauty is an inside job. I firmly believe that health is the foundation of beauty. The signs of good health can be easily recognised by everyone. A glowing skin, lustrous hair, a firm body and radiant eyes are not possible unless a person is truly healthy from within. Skin The condition of your skin is...

All of us have experienced the blues from time to time.  But it’s a serious disorder if the blues don’t let go of you! Depression may look and sound like the blues, but it lasts longer and has a more profound effect on the body.  It is the most unpleasant experience a person can go...

Good cooks will swear by their spices right down to the last pinch. And food lovers will turn up their noses at dishes that don’t have that little bit of ‘dal chini’ or ‘garam masala’. The latest to join the spice bandwagon are food scientists and nutritionists who are acknowledging the fact that spices have...

If you’ve ever had those open, shallow sores in your mouth, you know exactly what a pain this can be! However, you’re not alone as about one in five people get recurrent mouth ulcers. Mouth ulcers are small painful sores that occur inside the mouth. You might get them on the inside of your lips,...

Are you among those who tend to forget their specs, leave behind their wallets, fail to recall names or forget to pass on telephone messages? Take another instance, you open the refrigerator and stare blankly inside. Just what was it that you wanted? You may wonder what is it- plain absentmindedness, a bout of amnesia,...

Most people think they are constipated but are actually not. The frequency of motions may differ from person to person. Most people pass motion every day whereas it may be normal for some to pass motion every other day or 3-4 times a week. Therefore, constipation may be described as changes in the frequency of...

A person who doesn’t require vitamins is a rare find.  Our food production methods (over farming, use of pesticides) coupled with the burgeoning of the fast food industry and poor cooking methods (over cooking, deep-frying) play a key role in depriving our bodies of important nutrients.  When nutrient deficiencies interact with high levels of stress...

Anxiety is a very common emotion experienced by most of us in response to being confronted with an unpleasant and potentially harmful trigger, typically characterized by feelings of fear, anger, sadness, and panic. Anxiety is in fact, a protective mechanism designed to prevent ourselves from engaging in potentially harmful behaviours and to cope with a...

About 70% of headache sufferers are women. Many people endure headaches consistently, never dreaming that there are certain foods that cause a headache. Of course, if you have a frequent headache, a lot depends upon your genetic predisposition and family history. Foods that Cause a Headache Sometimes weather changes, strong odours, perfumes, bright lights and...

I cannot effectively express the humility, wonder, strength, beauty and harmony that exist in nature.  The human body is a marvel of nature and is highly capable of looking after itself.  All you have to do is enhance your body’s natural immune system and make it as strong as it possibly can be.  You should...

You can eat out and eat healthy too. With a little planning and preparation, you can easily develop a strategy for eating out without blowing your diet. Suggestions for Eating in Specific Types of Restaurants There is a myriad of healthy snacks and meal options available and they are just as affordable and delicious as...

Alcohol is the most popular recreational drug in the world. The pleasures of drinking alcohol are undeniable. When you start drinking you feel more relaxed, more confident and sociable. But we also know that drinking too much alcohol is bad for us. The short term effects can be hangover, tiredness but in the long run,...

Veins are blood vessels that carry blood from the body upwards to the heart. Inside your veins are tiny one-way valves that open to let the blood through and then close to prevent it flowing backwards. Sometimes, the valves of the veins can lose their elasticity due to prolonged high pressures in the veins, causing...

While reasons for infertility among men and women vary. Nevertheless, eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy weight benefits several body functions; prime amongst these is the ability to conceive. Modifying a diet is a lot cheaper than getting involved with artificial methods of insemination. This is not to say that these procedures can...

Skin allergies that are common like urticaria are characterised by raised red skin rashes or bumps that appear in varying shapes and sizes. One distinct trait of urticaria is their tendency to change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours. Some...

There is no doubt that healthy eating habits are an inexpensive health insurance policy, which increases immunity and health to fight various illness and infections. However, there still would be some conditions, which would keep striking us, once in a while, regardless of how well we plan our meal options. Common cold and flu are...

It is often confusing to know what to eat and what not to eat in this everchanging field of Health and Nutrition. Today we are bombarded by an avalanche of information from Newspapers, Magazines, Televisions, Facebook, Internet etc. For instance, some experts say eat peanuts, they are low in glycemic index. Others say don’t eat...

We rarely think that correcting our eating habits can have an impact on our quality of sleep. We repair our bodies when we sleep. It’s important to know that the right diet for sleep gives us the energy to not only complete our tasks on time but also strengthens our immune system. Moreover, diet for...